1 Unexpected Alters
by Dark's Soul Mate
Summary: Sometimes I felt like Cinderella... That is, without the fairy godmother, the prince, the crown, and the palace. It was like that for seven years... until I discovered I was a mutant.
1. Chapter One

**A/N: Hey, this is my first X-Men story so please be nice! And also there's a girl named Kitten in the first chapter, but I just want to point out that she is NOT Kitty Pryde. Kitten is just some girl I made up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men comics, but I do own all the characters in this chapter (Tory, Kate, Kitten, and the mother)**

**(Tory)**

**Sometimes I felt like Cinderella… that is, without the fairy godmother, the prince, the crown, and the palace. My life was pretty much a crappy Cinderella story without a happy ending before I came to the DeAnjelo Institute.**

"TORY, GET UP HERE NOW AND CLEAN OUR ROOMS!" sounded an outraged voice from upstairs. With a groan, Tory set her duster aside on the kitchen counter and hurriedly climbed up the stairs. "TORY!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Tory called out a bit shyly.

**(Tory)**

**I had the most horrible twin sisters you could imagine. Their names were Kitten and Kate, and they were twelve years old. They were spoiled rotten and always expected me to clean up after them, cook their meals, do their chores, even their homework. They always had me working, and if it wasn't them who forced me to work, it was my mother, who was just as cruel.**

The second Tory stepped into the room, the green laundry basket was thrown at her. "Pick up the laundry," Kate commanded, who was sitting on her bed and smirking at her sister. "Then, we want you to make our beds, dust the shelves, wash the windows, pick up what's on the floor, and make us breakfast."

"We're timing you, too," Kitten said, showing Tory the small timer in her palm. She pressed the button that started the timer. "You have ten minutes to do it all." Kitten got up from the chair she was sitting on.

"Yes, Sisters," Tory said, already starting on the laundry.

The two grinning twins shoved Tory on the floor before exiting their rooms. "And then mother would like a word with you about your daily routine."

**(Tory)**

**When I was seven, my parents died one night from a car crash on their way home from the pizza place. It was rainy and very dark, and before they left I had no idea that would be the last time I'd be Tory Shepard. When I was eight, I got adopted into this family, and was then on called Tory Timothy. My mother and twin sisters pretended to be nice to me my first day here, but then they had me working like a maid every day after that.**

Tory heard footsteps coming from the stairs and quickly tried to finish washing the last window. The door opened and Kitten came in with her timer. "Your ten minutes is up, and you still haven't made us breakfast."

Kate came in next. She stomped her foot down on the floor and shouted, "WE'RE HUNGRY! IT'S NINE O'CLOCK AND STILL NO BREAKFAST!"

Her mother came in last, and at this point she was literally trembling in her sneakers. "I'm sorry! I'll have it made in ten minutes, I promise!" Tory said.

"You know what this means," Mother said, ignoring what Tory had said last. "There will be no meals for you, today."

"But you didn't let me have anything yesterday, either!" Tory complained.

"You should've thought of that before being so sluggish this morning," Mother said. "Come, girls. Tory will make you breakfast, soon."

"Mother, she's so slow!" Kate whined on her way out.

"What in the world are we going to do with her?" Kitten asked, leaving the room.

"We'll think of something," Mother said, closing the door.

**(Tory)**

**Yeah, I've thought about running away. But Mother kept all of the doors and windows locked when I was home alone, so ever since I was eight, I haven't been outside even once. I was too much of a coward to break the windows or doors down to get outside. That's just the way I was. When Mother wasn't home, I used the computer to go on the Internet and learn what any girl was supposed to learn at my age. I always thought I wasn't special at all, and it wasn't until I was fifteen years old that I discovered my mutant abilities.**

Tory let go of the wet rag she was holding and dropped to her knees. She buried her face in her hands and started to sob. "What did I do?" She whispered to herself. "What did I do to deserve all this $&#?"

Suddenly, Tory felt utterly strange from head to toe, a little stronger. But she thought it was all account of her being sad, and that it was all in her imagination. She brought her face up and wiped her tears away with her hands. Tory looked at the clock. _Okay, it's 9:10…_ She started dusting the shelves, which usually took her about ten minutes to do. When she finished, she looked up at the clock, again. "What the…? 9:10?" _The clock must be broken._

Tory opened the door and traveled downstairs to check the other clocks, but they all read 9:10 am. "Mother!" Tory called out. She went to the kitchen and froze in her tracks. Her sisters were sitting at the counter, and her mother was reaching for something in the cupboard. They weren't moving at all. It all looked like a movie that was paused. "Mother?" Tory walked to her and tapped her on the shoulder, but she did nothing.

_What's going on? How come I'm the only one that's moving? And all of the clocks are broken, too…_ Tory swiftly went to the front door and opened it. She ran outside and looked down the road, where three cars stayed in the same place. They weren't moving at all. She looked up and saw a flock of birds that weren't flying, but staying still up in the air. _Oh, my gosh. The clocks aren't broken; I just stopped time! And this means that… I'm a mutant._

**A/N: Please review and tell me what you think about it so far!**


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N: Tory's not the main character, but I thought she'd be a good start to the story. There's actually no main character, but a lot of characters.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men comics.**

_**(Tory)**_

_**Right at that moment, all I wanted to do was escape. Not only from the family that tortured me for seven years, but from everything that was standing still. Even though I knew there were more mutants other than me, I felt all alone. All I did after I realized I was a mutant was run, far away. After about a half-hour of running in the motionless world, I finally gave up and realized that no matter where I went, everything wasn't going to move.**_

Panting, Tory sat down and leaned against a tree in a park she found. _What do I do! I'm the only person in the world who knows time has stopped! How do I un-freeze everything? Oh, I can't do it! I just can't handle it!_

"_Tory, you can do it. I believe in you."_

Tory immediately stood up. _There's someone in my mind?_

"_Yes, Tory. My name is Professor Rachel DeAnjelo, and I can help you control your powers."_

Tory looked around to try and find who was talking to her in her head, and then she finally found one person in the park who was moving. She looked about forty-five. She had on light blue jeans, brown shoes, and a white t-shirt with a white jacket over it. "How come you're not frozen?" Tory asked her.

"Your powers are strong," Professor DeAnjelo said. "But mine are stronger."

_Another mutant. Maybe she could help me! _Tory walked closer to her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know I was a mutant until now. If I knew, I wouldn't have done all this."

"I know," Professor DeAnjelo said. "It's alright."

"I need help," Tory admitted. "How do I make time move forward, again?"

"The same way you made it stop," Professor DeAnjelo answered.

Tory thought for a moment. _I remember wanting Mother and my sisters to stop forcing me to work for them, and stop being so cruel. I just wanted everything to stop… I just have to want everything to move, again._ Tory shut her eyes, and felt the same strong feeling she felt last time all over her body. Then, after a few seconds, she heard cars on the street, and people talking, playing or happily screaming in the park. She opened her eyes and let out a sigh of relief; everything was moving again.

Tory smiled up at Professor DeAnjelo, and she smiled back. "I did it."

"I knew you could," Professor DeAnjelo said. "Tell me, where is your family? I would like to speak with them."

"Oh. I don't… I don't really have a family," Tory said. "Please don't make me go back there, again."

"I won't," Professor DeAnjelo said. "But I would like a moment of your time to speak with you about my Institute."

_**(Tory)**_

_**As soon as the Professor mentioned the Institute, I knew I wanted to go no matter what. Finally, I wouldn't be living like a maid, anymore! I was finally freed, and I owe all my thanks to her, Professor Rachel DeAnjelo.**_

**A/N: Sorry about the incredibly short shortness of this chapter but this seemed like a good stopping point. I'll update soon!**


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N: YAY! On with chapter three!**

**You'll meet a girl named Mindy-- my worst favorite character. You'll see why.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men comics. But all the characters in this story belong to me.**

**_(Tory)_**

**_That day, the Professor brought me to the DeAnjelo Institute, and led me to a room with a few more professors in there. I didn't know their names at that point, and when they told me I forgot them quickly. All of this was so overwhelming I wasn't listening to anyone. However, I did listen when they wanted to know what my new mutant name was. I answered, "Secondhand."_**

After Tory met the teachers, one of them led her to a room with an opened door. Inside was a longhaired dirty-blonde girl talking into her hot pink cell phone. She had navy blue eyes and fair skin. She wore light blue kapris, pink flip-flops, a pink t-shirt and a white jacket. "You're kidding! You're KIDDING! No way, you did not just do what I think you did…"

"Mindy?" the teacher said.

The girl looked at the teacher and said into the cell, "One sec." She turned back to the teacher and said, "What is it?"

"This is your new roommate, Tory," the teacher said to Mindy.

"Oh, hey Tory! What's up?" Mindy said, smiling.

"I'll leave you girls to talk," the teacher said. She handed Tory a piece of paper. "Here's your schedule. I'll see you tomorrow in History." And with that, she left.

Mindy led Tory into the room and picked up her cell again. "Sorry, Nia. I got a new roommate. Yeah, I gotta go. Chat with ya later, cio!" Mindy pressed a button and set her phone on her bed. "Okay, Tory. The bed on the left is mine, and the one on the right is yours." Tory looked around the room and then back at Mindy, who crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Ya don't say much, do ya?"

"Oh, sorry," Tory said. "So, your name's Mindy?"

"Yep," Mindy said, sitting on her bed. "Mindy DeAnjelo, age seventeen. My mutant name is Vague."

"Oh, so you're the Professor's daughter," Tory said.

"Yep," Mindy said.

"What do you do?" Tory asked.

Mindy proudly pointed to herself. "I've got the power of invisibility! And as for social status, I'm the most popular girl at this Institute! You're oober-lucky you're rooming with me!" _She SO wishes she could be me right now_, Mindy thought.

_Aw, man. I have to be stuck with HER most of the time?_ Tory thought. She sat down on her bed.

"So, what do YOU do?" Mindy asked.

"Well, I just found out I was a mutant today," Tory said. "So far, all I know is that I can stop time."

"Ya stopped time, today?" Mindy asked, leaning forward. "But I didn't notice."

"It was a few hours ago. You and everyone else was frozen," Tory said. "The only person besides me who wasn't was the Professor."

"I was frozen?" Mindy asked. "Whooooooaaaaaa. That's way freaky." Mindy stood back up. "Want me to show you around the Institute?"

"Maybe later," Tory said, lying on her bed. "I'm exhausted."

"Oh, whatevs," Mindy said. She took her phone again and dialed a number. "Nia, hi! I'll meet ya in the kitchen with Johnny, 'kay? Coolio, see ya in five! Bye!" Mindy put her cell phone on her bed. "Laters, Tory!" Mindy left the room.

_Thank goodness! She's gone!_ Tory thought, pulling the thick, warm covers over her head.

**Later, At 11 pm**

Mindy came back to her room and slammed open the door, waking Tory up. Tory jumped up in bed. "OOH! I'll show that freaking jerk to break up with Mindy Y. DeAnjelo!" Mindy took her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed. "Hello? Nia? I seriously need some company, here! I know; Johnny is SO not getting away with this!"

Tory pulled the covers over her head. "Mindy?" she said too quietly for Mindy to hear.

She could hear Mindy sobbing. "That jerk doesn't know who he's messing with! Yes, I KNOW that, Nia! I'm like totally heartbroken and he doesn't even care! He is SO incredibly mean! What're we going to do?"

"Mindy?" Tory said a little louder.

"What!" Mindy sobbed.

"Oh, never mind." Tory put a pillow over her head. _I'll just deal with it for tonight. Things will get better, I'm sure._

**The Next Morning**

"Oh, TORY! You're truly the only friend I HAVE!" Mindy was sobbing into her pillow. "You're the only one who'll listen to what I have to say! Nia is SO incredibly mean, wanting stupid sleep more than comforting ME!" Mindy sat up and blew her nose loudly into a tissue. "I'm like SO thankful you're my roommate, Tory!"

"Yeah, me too…" Tory said, who was kept up all night by the heartbroken Mindy. She could feel her eyes becoming puffy under her covers and rubbed them a little. "Is it morning, already?"

"Oh, I didn't even NOTICE!" Mindy sobbed. "I had my mind on Johnny ALL NIGHT LONG!"

Tory silently groaned. "Well, what day is it?"

"Monday…" Mindy said, wiping some tears away from her eyes with her tissue. "It's time for school." Mindy plopped her face back into her pillow, again. "I can't go to school like THIS!"

Tory got up to leave for the bathroom, but then she realized she had no brush to do her hair. She turned to Mindy. "Could I borrow your brush?"

Mindy took out a brush from the N-table that was in-between the two beds and handed it to Tory. "Thanks so mucho-much for last night," Mindy said, smiling weakly.

"Oh. No problem," Tory said, faking a smile. _Oh, boy. I hope I get some sleep tonight._

**A/N: Yet another short chapter, I know. But this is the best ending I could think of for this chapter. Now do you see why I dislike Mindy so much?**

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N: This is the way I sort of wanted to sort out my story: Tory's part in the story would be the more serious feelings, and Mindy's part (and Johnny's) would be the more dramatic "this is a character you will never meet in real life" stuff. But after this story everything will get a lot more serious with the next.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men comics, or the book mentioned in this story… but I do really love that book and that author! My favorite author in the world! Plus all the characters in this story belong to me.**

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**_(Tory)  
Thankfully, I wasn't Mindy's roommate forever. But I was her roommate for a while, and eventually I (sort-of) got used to it._**

**Ten Minutes Later**

Tory walked down the hallway with Mindy. Tory had her bright yellow schedule in her hand, and Mindy had a tissue in hers. "Oh, that is SO cool! We have first period together!"

"Yeah," Tory said, but in her head she was thinking, _Darn it._

At that second, a teacher (the same teacher that had led Tory to her new dorm) approached them from behind. "Miss Shepard, Professor DeAnjelo would like to give you some new school supplies."

"Oh. Sure," Tory said. "I'll see you later, Mindy."

"Oh, yeah!" Mindy said, smiling. "See you in class, 'Tor! Love ya!" Tory did a small wave and followed the teacher in another direction down the hall. Mindy started walking to her first period again.

**_(Mindy)  
John Mavis was my most recent boyfriend at that point, and we grew quite fond of each other. He was my longest boyfriend so far, and I honestly thought I would be the one breaking up with him. The night before, he said he needed his space for a while. That hurt so much and I stayed up crying and complaining all night to my roommate, Tory._**

Mindy opened the door to her first period class, History with Professor Kevin Hamilton. Students were chattering among themselves whilst Professor Hamilton read a book at his desk called _Hawks Harbor_ by S.E. Hinton.

Mindy groaned as she saw John Mavis writing in his inch-thick notebook in the corner of the room. "Great. He's here." Johnny had on a white short-sleeved shirt with a zipper and hood, black pants, and black tennis shoes. His hair was dirty blonde and curly, and his eyes were dark green. His skin was fairly tan.

**_(Mindy)  
Johnny was a HOTTIE. He was also a pretty good boyfriend for me, the best one yet… until he broke up with me. Darn him!_**

Johnny realized Mindy was coldly glaring at him and smiled. "Great. He sees me." Johnny dropped his pencil and rushed over to her. "What do YOU want?"

"Mindy… I'm so sorry!" Johnny said, his smile quickly fading. He got on his knees and held up his notebook to her. "This notebook is for you! It's an apology over a hundred pages long! It filled up over half of the notebook and I'm working on filling up the whole thing!"

"Weirdo," Mindy snapped. "It's too late to win my affections back, so just find another girl and give up on me. Course, I'm not so sure if you can even get ONE girl to go out with you. Oh well! Tootles!" Mindy walked past Johnny, who was still kneeling on the ground in the same position.

Looks like I showed him, Mindy thought proudly to herself, strutting to her desk in the back row on the right corner and taking a seat. She took her textbook out of her backpack and tried to get as much homework done as possible. Even if she weren't so busy worrying about her love life issues the night before, she still wouldn't have done her homework anyway. She never did because she never found a reason to care as much as the other students, which is why she became a D student.

Natalie Gilligan, Mindy's best friend, approached her from behind. "So, you over him yet?" Nia had chocolate brown hair tied together in two braids, matching eyes and very tan skin. Today she was wearing navy blue kapris, black flip-flops, a brown t-shirt, and several silver bracelets on each wrist.

"Totally," Mindy concluded, turning around in her seat to look up at her friend. "I'm completely over what's-his-name. He's the ground and I'm the skyscraper. That's how much I'm over him."

**_(Mindy)  
Okay, so that was a big fat lie… But I was going to get over that boy eventually._**

"Okay, everyone! Take a seat!" Professor Hamilton ordered, getting up from his desk. Nia mouthed the word "bye" to Mindy, and everyone did as the professor told them to. Mindy worked on a few more questions on her History worksheet as he spoke. "We have a new freshman in class named Tory Shepard. Please try and help her adjust; she's very shy."

Heads turned around the classroom, trying to find this new girl. "Where is she?" a boy asked.

"She's at the principal's office right now," Professor Hamilton answered. "She'll be here in a minute." The door opened just then, and Tory appeared, turning slightly pink and smiling timidly at her new classmates. "Ah, right on cue!"

"Hi," Tory said, taking a few steps into the classroom. "I'm Tory."

"I'm Professor Hamilton. Pleased to meet you," Professor Hamilton greeted her. He walked over to where she was and shook her hand. "You can take a seat next to Mindy over—" He paused. "Mindy, you didn't finish your homework again, did you?"

Mindy jumped a little in her seat. Still staring down at her textbook, she said, "Um… no, Sir."

Professor Hamilton let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his forehead with his right hand. "Mindy, I don't know how I'm supposed to get through to you. You'll never get anywhere in life if you keep getting Ds and Fs."

"Not true," Mindy said, lifting the index finger of her hand. "I have the body of a runway model."

"You know, she has a point," the boy who had spoken up earlier said.

"Donald, be quiet," Professor Hamilton ordered, taking his hand off his forehead. He turned to Mindy again. "Mindy. If you don't get proper education, everything in your life will come crashing down."

_Yeah, you won't think that when you see me on the cover of every teen magazine in the world,_ Mindy thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry about that, Tory," Professor Hamilton said.

"It's fine," Tory said, taking a seat next to Mindy. _Poor Mindy,_ Tory thought. _On top of just getting dumped by a boy she really cared for, her grades are in the toilet. I wish there were some way I could talk to her, but I don't know what to say. I barely talk, anyhow._

"Okay, class!" Professor Hamilton said, clapping his hands once. "Turn to Chapter 19 on page 394. Tory, I'll get you a textbook."

As she reached into her red backpack to get a pencil, Tory suddenly felt ill. It was sort of like she did before when she stopped time, but this was different somehow. Tory moaned and held her head was throbbing like crazy. "Tory, are you okay?" was the last thing she heard.

Now she was in a completely different world. In some way, Tory knew that all she could do was just watch what was going on. She saw the DeAnjelo Institute exploding; large and small portions of the school were flying in all directions. She saw only two people: a girl around the age of sixteen, and a boy who looked like her brother, around fifteen. Their eyes glowed bright red, and they said only one word that didn't make any sense: "Memory."

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**A/N: Oooh, a cliff-hanger! It's finally not a short chapter! Actually this is the longest chapter in this story so far. Anyway I wanted this chapter to focus a bit more on Mindy instead of Tory because I didn't want the story to seem like Tory is of importance than all the other characters.**

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Kangaroobeedoodle, 2littleredpandas, and MeadowLark4491. Thank you for reading and reviewing my story, I really appreciate it! You all rock!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men but the characters in this story belong to me.**

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As she reached into her red backpack to get a pencil, Tory suddenly felt ill. It was sort of like she did before when she stopped time, but this was different somehow. Tory moaned and held her head was throbbing like crazy. "Tory, are you okay?" was the last thing she heard. 

Now she saw a different world. In some way, Tory knew that all she could do was just watch what was going on. She saw the DeAnjelo Institute exploding; large and small portions of the school were flying in all directions. She saw only two people: a girl around the age of sixteen, and a boy who looked like her brother, around fifteen. Their eyes glowed bright red, and they said only one word that didn't make any sense: "Memory."

Suddenly Tory was back in her desk, and the entire class was watching her, their eyes widening. Professor Hamilton was in front of her. "Tory, can you hear me, now? Maybe you should go to the nurse."

"Where… where did I go… just now?" Tory managed to get out.

"DUDE! That was so weird!" Donald exclaimed from his front row seat. "You were screaming and moaning and then your pupils turned yellow!"

"What?"

"Like, you were just sitting there in silence, staring at the wall," Mindy explained. "You couldn't hear what anyone was saying to you. But it was only like for a minute or so."

"I don't need to go to the nurse," Tory concluded. However she was still in shock. "But I think I saw the future just now."

"New kids," Donald muttered to himself, turning back around in his seat. _Always trying to hog all the attention for themselves._

"Was I in your vision?" Mindy asked Tory, leaning forward with interest and curiosity.

"Why the $&# would YOU be in her vision?" an emo girl in the middle row asked.

"_Hell-o!_" Mindy sang, now facing the girl who said that. She flipped back her long blonde hair. "I'm fabulous, duh!"

"Fabulous, my—"

"Alright, alright, that's enough," Professor Hamilton interrupted, breaking the girls' argument. He swiftly moved up to the front of the classroom and opened up his own textbook. Tory looked down at her desk to see her own, and then looked up again. "Turn to page 394."

Tory mentally sighed. It was going to be really tough to try paying attention in class today. She opened her textbook.

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**Lunchtime, In the Cafeteria**

Tory entered the lunchroom alone. Mindy and Nia were off at the girly-girl table, chatting about Johnny and how hopeless and annoying he was. _I guess Mindy's over him already_, Tory thought, taking a lunch tray at the front of the line. _That was fast… anyway, looks like it's Spaghetti Day._

"Orsen! Quit hogging all the spaghetti; I want some, too!" a curly-haired boy shouted at another boy with jet-black hair.

Tory assumed this curly-haired boy was Johnny from what Mindy described to her the previous night. The two boys were right in front of her in the line and the black-haired one held a blue tray piled one foot high with spaghetti. "You can't eat all that!"

"I can eat more," Orsen said proudly, taking the ladle once again. "Watch, you'll see." Right before Tory's eyes, he changed into a black-haired monkey and came down almost to her waist. She let out a small yelp but he didn't seem to notice. With his tail, he picked up the ladle and with his other hand, he picked up a second tray to dish up more spaghetti. _He can shape-shift into animals!_ Tory thought, amazed.

"You're an idiot," Johnny said.

"Water-weenie," Orsen teased.

"Would you stop calling me that!"

"Fine, then… Water-weenie."

"KNOCK IT OFF!"

_Can he not swim?_ Tory thought. She was unaware that her face still looked in complete shock, and then Johnny noticed her. "Oh by the way, you freaked out a freshman," he told Orsen while looking at her.

Orsen, still being a monkey, turned around and looked up to see Tory. He laughed a little and said, "Oh, I'm sorry! You must be new here."

"Yeah," Tory answered a bit quietly. _A monkey is talking to me. _"I'm Tory."

"Orsen," Orsen said. "Nice meeting you. Well, I'm off!" He put down the ladle with his tail and now had two trays one foot high with spaghetti.

"Weirdo," Johnny said.

"Weenie," Orsen laughed, and strolled out of the cafeteria.

Tory couldn't help but giggle. "Dumb sophomores," Johnny mumbled, referring to Orsen, taking the ladle and dishing himself what was left of the spaghetti.

Tory moved ahead of Johnny and took a few pieces of garlic bread for her lunch. _Oh, well. Garlic bread is better, anyway._ She finished the lunch line with a chocolate pudding, three pieces of garlic bread and a small milk carton on her tray.

"Tory! Hey, come sit over here!" Mindy was standing up at her lunch table and waving at her.

Tory saw Mindy and turned her head to the ground, hoping Mindy didn't know she saw. _Oh, great._ Tory didn't want to be trapped with Mindy again. All she ever did was talk, talk, talk. She never listened.

All of a sudden the lunchroom went completely quiet. Tory instantly looked up to see everyone and everything standing still. She looked at the clock and realized it didn't move. _I stopped time again!_ Tory used this as an advantage and quickly walked out the cafeteria door and sat at one of the picnic tables outside. It was a sunny spring day. She looked around at all the still people at picnic tables around her, and then shut her eyes tightly. When she heard sound once more, she opened them. Time was moving forward, again.

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**Mindy's POV**

"One second, Nia," Mindy said to one of her friends at the table. She stood up and waved at Tory, who was at the end of the lunch line. "Tory! Hey, come sit over here!" Two seconds after she had said that, Tory disappeared. "Whoa! That was weird."

"Maybe it wasn't her," Nia said, taking a bite of her spaghetti.

Mindy stared at the place Tory once was, shrugged and said, "Whatevs," and sat back down.

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**Tory's POV**

"That was close," Tory breathed, placing a hand on her forehead. She heard some footsteps to her right and she looked; Orsen was standing there, along with the two trays of spaghetti in his hands. He was in his human form.

"What was close?" he asked her.

"Um, nothing," Tory said. After she said it, she realized she had said it a little too quickly… and that her cheeks were slightly burning.

"Mind if I sit here?" Orsen asked. Tory shook her head and so he placed his trays next to hers and sat next to her. Tory then noticed her ears were growing hotter. "I'm sorry for going a little crazy with the spaghetti back there," he said, laughing a little. "My two favorite foods are spaghetti and lasagna… anyway, you can have some of mine if you want." He handed her one of his trays.

"Oh, no. That's okay. I like garlic bread better anyway," Tory said, picking up a slice of garlic bread to show him. _Why am I so nervous? Calm down!_

"Well okay, if you're sure," Orsen said, putting the tray down. "Tory, right?"

"Yes."

"Call me crazy, but I think I know you from somewhere," Orsen said. His eyes were squinted, trying to remember if he'd known her before. "I can't really put my finger on it, though."

"I'm sorry," Tory said, "But I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"Hmm…" Orsen was still squinting at her. "Well… maybe I _am_ just crazy." _I know I've seen her, before… But where? And when?_ "I'm going to finish off my spaghetti," Orsen declared, taking his fork. "Then I'm playing Frisbee with Donald and Zac. You're welcome to join us if you want." He dug into his spaghetti.

"Thanks. I'll just watch," Tory said. "I'm really no good at sports." _I haven't even tossed a Frisbee since I was five or six. I don't want to embarrass myself. As if I haven't embarrassed myself enough, already. My face is completely red!_

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**A/N: A-ha! Another long chapter! Tory instantly started liking Orsen, which seems unlikely in real life, but there's a reason she likes a person like him immediately. It explains in a future chapter. Also, Orsen does know Tory from somewhere, but that explains in a future chapter as well.**

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry for the incredibly long update; my computer died and I had to get a new one. I even had the sixth chapter all written out and now it's gone! So I had to re-write it. Also I've been really busy with homework and stuff.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men comics but I own every character in this story, and Mindy's little song.**

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_**(Tory)**_

_**In my opinion, I was doing pretty well in school so far; everyone was being nice to me and work was pretty okay. There was just one itty-bitty problem…**_

* * *

**That Night**

Mindy was looking over Tory's schedule in their dorm when she realized something, "Hey, Tory! You're in P.E. with me tomorrow! There's like an incredibly big test on our power-control!"

"P.E.?" Tory exclaimed, taking the schedule from her. _Oh, no… I haven't done any physical activity since I was little! And I just got my powers! I'm getting an F for sure!_ She flopped back down on her bed and let out a quiet moan that Mindy didn't hear; she was busy text-messaging a friend about something going on Saturday.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

"Rise 'n' shine, room-ie!" Mindy greeted in Tory's ear. "We have P.E. in an hour!" Tory's eyes slowly opened. _Oh yeah._ Mindy, who was already dressed and ready, started singing her own song: _"Get up Tory, get up Tory, time to show off all your glory!"_

"Okay, okay, I'm up," Tory interrupted softly, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes. "Hey, Mindy?" she yawned.

"Yup?" Even in the morning Mindy was as energetic as ever.

"Have you been through this test, before?"

Mindy nodded. "Mm-hmm! It happens once a month and it tests both the control over our powers… and then we run and jump and all that."

_Super._ "Is it easy?"

"That depends. If you can control your powers you'll do fine."

_Okay, that's good_, Tory thought. She hadn't messed up with her powers yet, and she knew how to control them, so she should do fine.

"Oh yeah and you need to run a mile in three minutes."

Tory flopped back onto her bed. _I'm doomed!_

* * *

**One Hour Later, On the Track Field**

Mindy and Tory were off stretching next to the bleachers with the rest of the class, except for Nia and a few other of Mindy's friends who were sitting in the bleachers talking. Mindy glanced at Tory; her eyebrows were arched and she was biting her lip. _Tory's nervous_, Mindy thought. _Maybe I can cheer her up!_

"'Tor?" Mindy said. Tory looked at Mindy. "I could give you a tip for that three-minute run. It's the same tip that Coach Nixon told all of us at the beginning of the year."

Tory didn't answer for a second, then said, "Thanks Mindy, but I really don't think any tip is going to help me run. I'm a turtle compared to everyone else."

"Says who?" Mindy said. "This tip is like fool-proof, trust me! He said exactly this: 'Prove to me how great a mutant can be; run a mile in three minutes, and anyone who is dumb enough to be caught cheating will receive three grades lower than they have now.' And if you have a C or lower you get an F. But that's exactly what he said. Did you know he doesn't know what our powers are?"

"Wait a second, Mindy… so I have to run a mile in three minutes and not get caught cheating," Tory said. _But I already knew that much._

Mindy grinned and nodded. "Exactly!" Tory tried to smile but Mindy could tell she wasn't happy. _So she didn't understand what I said…_ A loud "TWEET" sounded and Tory jumped. The girls looked toward the Institute and saw a tall, well-built man in sweats and a t-shirt come out. He blew his whistle again and the class lined up.

"Alright, listen all of you!" he shouted. "The monthly P.E.T. is today…" Tory took a moment to think of what "P.E.T." could stand for, and then figured it meant "Physical Education Test." "…And you know what that means: Prove to me how great a mutant can be: run a mile in three minutes, and anyone who is dumb enough to be caught cheating will receive three grades lower than they have now." He had repeated exactly what Mindy had said before.

"Everybody line up!" Only some of the students were groaning and mumbling, "Why did HE have to coach this year?" yet most of them were grinning with excitement. Everyone lined up on the track field, and Mindy was next to Tory. "Ready… go!" Everyone took off running, and as Tory suspected, they were all faster than her. _What kind of teenager can run a mile in three minutes?_ "Mindy, I don't think I can—" Tory looked next to her, but Mindy was gone. She looked around the track field, but she didn't see Mindy anywhere. _Where'd she go! She didn't ditch me, did she?_

Tory took a deep breath, let it out, and began to think hard about this situation: Okay. She had to run a mile in three minutes, and the coach couldn't catch her cheating. Wait a second… As Tory was running, she reached out her hand to the side of her, and even though she didn't see anything there, she touched something that felt like an arm moving. Mindy was invisible! Was she allowed to do that?

Tory smiled. Of _course_ she could! If the coach couldn't catch her at it!

It made perfect sense: run a mile in three minutes, but don't let the coach catch you cheating! It was like a secret code: the test was to see if he could identify your power! If he could, you would fail and if he couldn't, you'd pass. On a mission, you wouldn't want the enemy to know the extent of your power before you begin battle. If the coach couldn't see Mindy running, he must've thought she had super-speed. That's probably how she'd been able to pass this thing so easily.

_The only trouble is_, Tory thought, _How am I supposed to run a mile in three minutes by using my power?_ Tory stopped running and shut her eyes, and in a second, she heard nothing. She opened her eyes, and time was standing still. _That happened faster than last time… I must be getting better at this._ Tory walked past the frozen runners until she was further away from them, then began running with her eyes shut. In another second, time was moving forward again.

Tory continued to do this until she had run four laps around the track field: a mile. And she had 'ran this mile' in less than three minutes.

"Great job, girlfriend!" Mindy told her, giving her a soft pat on the back. "You cracked the code!"

"Thanks, Mindy! You too!" Tory congratulated her happily. "I'm so glad we didn't have to run that thing for real."

"Well, some people did," Mindy said. "Not everyone has figured out what the coach has been trying to tell them. It took me a few tries before I figured it out."

Tory nodded. "What's next?" she asked.

"Oh, we're just like playing basketball now," Mindy said. "That was the P.E.T."

"That was it?" Tory asked, astonished. "Wow! Hey, do you know what P.E.T. stands for?"

"'Physical Education Test,'" Mindy answered. "Thank goodness, too; it was about to be 'Physical Education Exam.'"

* * *

**A/N: Again, sorry for the long update! _(Gives you all cookies)_ You guys rule!**

**Please review!**


	7. Chapter Seven

**A/N: Hi, guys! Sorry for the long wait.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men comics, but all of the characters in my story belong to me.**

* * *

**One Week Later, In the Cafeteria**

"Mindy," Tory said to her friend, "Would it be okay if I told you something?"

"Oh, I already know," Mindy said, giggling. She took a swig of her soda. A confused Tory waited for Mindy to say something else, and Mindy placed her soda can back on the table. "You like Orsen."

"That's not what I was going to say…" Tory said, strumming her fingers on her lap.

"But it's totally obvious," Mindy said. "Every time he walks by your face, like, turns completely red! Like a tomato!"

"Well, um…" Tory didn't know how to respond to that. "Anyway, that's not what I was going to tell you."

"Oh," Mindy said. "Then what is it?"

"I've been having these dreams," Tory said. "Every night they're the same. I've been having two: One is the DeAnjelo Institute exploding and two figures standing in its place. In the other, there's this little boy telling me to hop on his bike and go to the park."

"Hmm…" Mindy pondered this for a while, and then shrugged. "Have you eaten any cheese before you go to bed?"

"…No."

"Then I don't know," Mindy said, and went back to eating her peanut butter sandwich.

"Thank you for letting me tell you about it," Tory said, getting up with her tray.

"No pwobum," Mindy said through a mouthful of sandwich.

Outside by the picnic tables, Orsen and his friends were playing Frisbee, again. "It's a long one, Orsen!" Zac called out from a long distance. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Orsen shouted back. Zac threw the Frisbee, and it flew above Orsen's head and into the cafeteria. "I'll get it!" Orsen ran after it into the building.

Tory was putting away her tray on a large table when something softly hit her on the arm. She looked down and saw it was a pink Frisbee falling to her feet. She bent down and picked it up, and when she stood again she realized Orsen was three feet away from her.

"Hi, Tory!" Orsen greeted her with a smile.

"Hi, Orsen," Tory said, smiling back. _All right. Don't blush, Tory._ She stepped forward and held out his Frisbee. "Is this yours?" For a moment, Orsen didn't answer. He looked frightened, which scared Tory as well. "A-Are you okay?"

"Oh!" Orsen snapped out of his trance. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." He took back his Frisbee, thanked Tory, and headed back outside.

* * *

**In Orsen's Next Class**

_I knew it!_ Orsen thought, not paying any attention to what his math teacher was saying. _I DID know Tory from somewhere! She was that girl from a while back, the one who never came outside…_

* * *

**Seven Years Ago…**

_A nine year-old Orsen stood in a large field, getting into position for when his friend threw the Frisbee. The grass was green and tall, reaching up to his waist. The sun shone brightly as always, making Orsen's black hair gleam. "Okay, I'm ready!" Orsen called out._

_"Here it comes!" another boy shouted. He threw a blue Frisbee to Orsen, but it went out of his reach and across the street. It kept going until it went through an open window of a tall, gray house._

_"That's okay!" Orsen said. "I'll go get it!"_

_"Orsen!" his friend called, running towards him. "You're crazy! That's where that creepy old woman lives! She's never going to give it back to you!"_

_"Sure she will," Orsen said, sure of himself. "And she's not that old, probably about 50 or 60."_

_"Let's just go home."_

_"No, I'm going to get it back," Orsen said, heading for the house. "And then I'm going to ask that lady how old she is, to prove to you that I'm right."_

_"What do you want me to tell your parents when you don't come back?" his friend shouted at Orsen's back._

_Orsen didn't hear him. Once he reached the house, he rang the doorbell. "Tory!" he heard from inside, "Answer the door!" He heard footsteps, and then the door opened. It was a small girl, a little shorter than Orsen was. She looked about a year younger than him. She was holding the blue Frisbee in her hands._

_"Hi!" Orsen said._

_"H-Hi," the girl said nervously. She held out the Frisbee. "Is this yours?"_

_"Yeah," Orsen said. "Can we have it back?" The girl nodded, and handed it to him. "Thanks," he said. "You can come play with us if you want."_

_The girl shook her head. "I'm not allowed to go outside."_

_"You're not?" Orsen asked, confused. "How come?"_

_"My mom says so," the girl answered._

She must be talking about the creepy lady,_ Orsen thought. "How old is she?"_

"_35."_

"_Really?"_

"_Uh-huh."_

* * *

**The Present**

"Orsen?"

Orsen snapped out of his thoughts. "What?"

The professor was looking at him, irritated. "What's the answer?"

Orsen looked up at the board, seeing many numbers and symbols he recognized but didn't know how to solve. "I don't know. I wasn't paying attention." The professor sighed and asked another student while Orsen went back to daydreaming, again.

* * *

_Young Orsen knocked on the door of the gray house, and a little girl opened the door. "Hi," she said, recognizing the boy. She smiled._

_Orsen was smiling as well. He had visited this girl every day, just to say hi, for about a year. Today he had his red bike with him. "I have an idea." He hopped on his bike and pointed to the basket in front. "Get in the basket and we'll go to the park and play."_

"_I'm not allowed outside," the girl reminded him._

"_I know," Orsen said. "We'll go play in the park, and then I'll take you to my uncle's house and you can live there. It's right next door to my house! And you'll be safe from that lady who keeps telling you to do things all the time."_

"_But you're not strong enough to carry me on your bike," the girl said. "And I'll get in trouble."_

"_No, you won't," Orsen said. "My uncle will hide you if that lady comes to find you. And I'm very strong. I can do it."_

_The girl shook her head. "I can't."_

"_But don't you want to be like other kids?" Orsen asked her. "Other kids play outside every day, and they go to school and learn things. I'll introduce you to all my friends at school, and you can hang out with us."_

_The girl backed away closer inside the house. "I can't," she repeated, tears in her eyes. "I'm afraid." The two didn't say anything for a moment, and then Tory spoke up. "I'm sorry I can't come… And I don't think you should come to my house, anymore. My mom doesn't want me to have any friends. She thinks it will make me want to go outside." Realizing she was about to cry, Tory said, "Goodbye," and softly closed the door._

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**A/N: Please review!**


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